


Tomatoes with Love

by violinia



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mild Language, super market au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-04-11 21:29:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4453061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violinia/pseuds/violinia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it's time for Feliciano to go to art school, Lovino takes it upon himself to tag along and take care of his little brother. While he searches for jobs in the area, Lovino meets a cheerful Spaniard who owns a small produce market. A small, short Spamano AU with hints of SpaBel (very, very small hints).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story a while ago and I never finished it. I decided to return to it because I've had a spin-off GerIta fic that goes along with this one (which the first chapter of that will be posted very soon once I think of a title for it). This fic should be short and should be a nice contrast to the other mess of a fan fic I have (-cough cough- Love Comes with Blood -cough cough-). It's mainly fluff and cute, goofy shenanigans. I hope you enjoy this short chapter! 
> 
> ~Katelyn

Lovino knew he wasn’t special. He rarely smiled or laughed, swore too much for his grandfather’s tastes and was lazy half the day. Compared to his creative, cheerful and smart (yet naïve) younger brother, Lovino always felt that he was worthless. Being older, life had bit him too many times in the ass making his outlook on life turn sour.

However, despite his bitterness, Lovino cared for his baby brother very much. So when it came time for Feliciano to leave for art school, Lovino tagged along with him, just to make sure there was a roof over his head. He rented a flat that was in walking distance of Feliciano’s university, and began applying to several jobs in the area.

That was when he me Antonio for the first time.

He didn’t know why the small market reached out to him; typically, he would turn his nose away from such a place. Sure, it looked nice and friendly, but it looked fairly new and on the brink of falling apart. Yet, the young Italian still stepped into the place, snatching the ‘HELP WANTED’ sign out of the window. Lovino roamed around the vacant store, looking at all of the baskets of fruits and vegetables sitting around and a few aisles with preserves and jellies. He stopped when he saw a man eagerly stacking plump, red tomatoes carefully. “Excuse me,” Lovino said, clearing his throat. The man turned, gently cradling a tomato in his palm and flashed a grin.

“ _Hola_!” he greeted. “Welcome to Carriedo’s Markets! How may I help you?” Lovino simply held up the poster, not bothering to smile or reply back. “Ah, I see. You want to apply for the job. Follow me.” As the cheerful owner walked past, Lovino glared at the box filled with tomatoes before following behind.

“Aren’t you going to put that tomato down?” Lovino asked, lazily trailing behind. The manager stopped, glanced and tossed the tomato in the air.

“Nope,” he answered. “It’s kind of cute, don’t you think?” He pulled out his keys and unlocked the office door.

“It’s a tomato.” Lovino mumbled. He chuckled.

“But look how round it is!” he added, opening the door and stepping aside. Rolling his eyes, Lovino walked into the office, the manager not too far behind, and stood in front of the desk. The desk was covered with all kinds of papers and envelopes, even notices threatening to close the shop for good. He watched the man walk around the desk, Lovino questioned what he was getting himself into. “The name’s Antonio.” The man finally introduced. Antonio carefully set the tomato at the front of the desk, gently patting it before pulling out an application form. “Here you go,” he said, handing the piece of paper to the potential employee. Lovino tugged the sheet out of the Spaniard’s hands, scanning over it. “This may seem a little awkward to ask, but I’m a little low on employees.” Lovino shot him a glare before snatching a pen out of the coffee mug. “I’ll have to ask you to work a little extra around the shop. Is that okay?”

“As long as I get money, I don’t care what the hell you have me do.” Lovino muttered. Antonio chuckled nervously.

“G-great.” He said, clapping his hands together. “I’ll have your name tag ready by tomorrow. The shop opens at eight, but I like to be here by seven o clock.”

“I don’t wake up until nine thirty.” Lovino blurted, waving the signed form in Antonio’s face. Antonio’s lip twitched with slight irritation before smiling.

“That’s alright, you can come in later if you’d like.” he reassured. “How about seven thirty?”

“I just told you I don’t wake up until nine thirty.” Lovino snapped.

“Okay, how about eight?” Antonio bargained.

“Still sleeping.”

“Eight thirty?”

“Sleeping.”

“Look, I am now your boss, so you have to listen to me. I want you here by eight thirty every morning.” Antonio demanded.

“Do you want me to work here or do you want to continue working by yourself and admiring tomatoes all day?” Lovino hissed. Antonio mumbled in Spanish under his breath, relenting.

“Nine o clock; that’s my final offer.” he said. Lovino sighed.

“Fine.” he grumbled. “My little brother is usually up by then, singing as he’s making breakfast before going to class anyway.”

“ _Fatástico_!” Antonio cheered. “I’ll see you then tomorrow.” He hurried around the desk, snatching the tomato and led Lovino to the exit. “Have a nice day, Lovino.” He held out the tomato, grinning.

“Are you giving me your stupid tomato?” he asked, perturbed.

“It’s a cute tomato,” Antonio remarked, chuckling. “You reminded me of it when I saw you.” Lovino blushed slightly as he grabbed the tomato and smashed it on the floor.

“Don’t compare me to your damn tomatoes!” he yelled, stomping off. He heard the Spaniard laughing as he walked away. He shook his head as he turned the corner to his apartment. “What a weirdo.”


	2. Secrets

As usual, Lovino was woken up by the loud, but soft singing of his younger brother the next morning.  He rubbed his eyes, growling to himself as he glanced at the clock. 8:27. “It’s too early…” he complained, kicking off his blankets. Lovino shuffled out of his room, turning down the hall to see Feliciano setting the table. Typically, Feliciano would have already eaten breakfast, leaving his brother’s portions on the kitchen counter, and would have been gone for classes by the time Lovino was awake.

Hearing the muffled shuffling noises from the hallway, Feliciano looked around the corner to see that his big brother was indeed, awake. “Lovino!!” he sang, smiling brightly. “Did you wake up to eat breakfast with me today?”

“No,” Lovino replied, plopping down in a chair. “My stupid boss wants me at work by nine today. Such a prick.” Feliciano’s smile quickly faded away.

“Oh.” He placed a plate in front of his brother and took the seat next to him. Feeling guilty, Lovino let out a frustrated sigh.

“And yes, I wanted to eat breakfast with you.” he added. Feliciano gasped and the bright smile from earlier was plastered back on his face.

“I knew it!” he cheered, leaping forward to hug Lovino. “I knew you hated eating breakfast alone all the time!” Lovino pushed him away, giving him a scowl.

“Don’t touch me.” he grumbled. Feliciano smiled and nodded, beginning to hum another song as they ate.

“I didn’t know you got a job, Lovino.” Feliciano then said. “Where are you working then?”

“At some run down market.” Lovino answered. “It doesn’t even seem like people even shop there. When I was at the owner’s office to fill out an application, there were envelopes and papers everywhere. I think they were probably notices that the dump was closing soon.”

“Maybe you can help bring more business. It sounds very exciting to me.” Feliciano stated. “Maybe I’ll come and visit while you’re working there.”

“Don’t even bother,” Lovino slid his plate away. “The owner of the place has issues and is strange.” Silence fell in the room before Feliciano stood up and gathered the dirty plates.

“Is he at least nice?” he asked, walking over to the sink.

“He’s overly friendly. Plus, he has an obsession with tomatoes.”

“He sounds like fun!”Lovino only rolled his eyes as he stood up, shuffling back to his room. He closed the door behind him and began to find decent clothes to wear for work. He faintly heard the loud banging noises of Feliciano rushing to get his shoes and jacket on, knocking over things in the living room. The front door opened with a loud screech and there was the jingling sound of keys being put in a pants’ pocket. “I’m off to class, Lovino! I’ll see you later this evening! _Ciao!_ ”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Lovino called back, shrugging on a buttoned shirt. He then pulled on some black, dress pants and shoved his bare feet into his old, worn, leather shoes. He quickly glanced at himself in the mirror, smirked to himself and bolted out the door.

* * *

 

Working in the market in of itself is one thing, but owning one and running it all without any help is another. Each day, Antonio would go to the shop early in the morning just to organize everything inside. Trucks would swing by around 7:30 to drop off the produce he had ordered to keep up with a fresh stock (even though most of it would go to waste). The shop opened by 8:30, and Antonio would walk around the aisles, making sure everything looked perfect and was clean. On a good day, he would get at least 10 customers. But typically, that was extremely rare.

As Antonio had finished bringing in a box of zucchinis, his new employee (his new _cute_ employee, he might add) stepped inside. “ _Buenos días_ , Lovino!” he greeted. “You came just in time; I need some help bringing in the peaches.” Antonio handed him a small plastic rectangle with ‘Lovino’ written on it. “And here’s your name tag. Just stick it on your shirt pocket, like so.”

“I know how to put on a name tag, you dipshit.” Lovino spat, snatching the tag away from him. “Do you think I’m four years old or something?” Antonio laughed before walking away.

“Come on! The peaches aren’t going to bring themselves in!” he hollered. Chuckling when he heard Lovino groan, the cheerful Spaniard led the way to the back of the store where one crate sat, waiting to be pulled in. “I’ll take one side and you take the other; if we work together we’ll be done bringing this crate inside in no time.”

“How did you do this before you hired me?” Loving asked, leaning against the door frame.

“Oh, I just had the delivery workers help me.” Antonio answered, grinning.  He picked up one side of the box, patiently waiting for his new employee to do his part. Lovino smirked, grabbing his side with one hand and tugged; except the box didn’t budge. Flustered and frustrated, Lovino pulled harder, continuing to try to lift the box with one hand. With countless attempts, the box finally moved slightly, landing on the poor Italian’s foot. In agony, Lovino let out a scream as Antonio did his best to slide the heavy box off of his foot. After jumping around for a bit, trying to get rid of the pain, Lovino slumped against a wall. “Are you alright, _amigo_?”

“Yes, of course!!” Lovino shouted. “I’m perfectly fine after having a box flatten my toes into paper!” Antonio did his best to hide his laughter as Lovino crossed his arms. “Don’t you have something easier for me? Couldn’t I put price tags on vegetables or slabs of meat?”

“Huh? Come on, this isn’t _that_ hard!” Antonio bargained.

“Can’t do it!” Lovino said, throwing his arms up in the air. He slowly stood up and began limping his way back into the shop. “That crate is way too heavy!” Antonio followed him inside, frustrated.

“You’ll get used to it, I swear!” he assured. “Besides, it’s the last one I need to bring in!”

“Didn’t you hear me? It’s too hard!” Lovino hissed. “I’d rather pick up dog shit with my bare hands than bring that in!”

“Well I can’t bring in the box all by myself and I certainly can’t just leave it out there!” Antonio hollered.

“Not my problem!” The two continued to argue, not even noticing a little, delicate, old lady had stepped into the shop. Eventually, Antonio managed to convince Lovino to help bring in the supply of peaches and with teamwork, the successfully set the box in its proper place (without crushing Lovino’s poor foot).

“That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Antonio teased, nudging Lovino with his elbow. He froze when he saw the old lady waddling around the shop with a tiny basket. “Ah! A customer!” he cheered. “Lovino, go to the register and wait for her to check out, okay? I’m gonna talk to her.”

“You’re acting as if it’s some achievement that a customer walked in.” Lovino muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Don’t you get customers on a daily basis? How are you even keeping this place running?” Antonio did not reply; instead, he kindly greeted the old woman and led her around the store. In the corner of his eye, he watched Lovino shuffle his way to the register and wait patiently. It wasn’t until ten minutes later that the woman was ready to check out. The Spaniard watched her make her way to the register, praying that Lovino would be at least polite to her.

“Good morning, ma’am.” Lovino said, smiling for the first time that morning. “Did you find everything you needed?” The elderly woman glanced up, adjusting her glasses.

“I did.” She replied. “That young gentleman kindly showed me around the store.” Lovino nodded, going into auto pilot as he listened to the woman ramble.

“That’ll be twenty Euros, ma’am.” Lovino stated, carefully putting the produce into paper bags.

“Is that all?” she asked. “Wow, this is one of the cheapest markets in town then!” Antonio slid over next to Lovino, grinning.

“That’s right! Lowest price for fresh produce everyday!” he added. The old lady giggled as she carefully carried her paper bag in her arms.

“I think I shall tell the girls about this place.” she said, waddling towards the exit.

“Please do!” Antonio called, cupping his hands around his lips. “Have a nice day, ma’am!” The glass door closed behind her as Antonio jumped up and down. “Wow! Maybe she’ll tell her friends and we’ll get more sales!”

“She’ll probably forget in five minutes where she bought those fruits and meats.” Lovino said. Antonio froze, turning to look at his employee. “I’m taking a break; I’m tired.” The Spaniard nervously chuckled.

“The day has barely started!” he muttered.

“I said I’m tired.” Lovino repeated. “I’m going to sit over there if you want me.” Antonio sighed, relenting and leaned against the check-out counter, scratching the back of his neck. A small smiled curled on his lips.

“You certainly are an interesting one.” he thought. “Mister Lovino.”

* * *

 

His new job certainly wasn’t interesting at all; Lovino stood in the middle of aisle 3, lazily pushing the mop back and forth. Antonio didn’t seem to notice that the Italian hadn’t moved since he started cleaning, despite the fact that the Spaniard had walked past several times. When Lovino finally finished cleaning the aisle, his manager stood in front of him, holding to small paper bags. “Lunch time!” Antonio announced, holding out one of the bags to Lovino.

“Thank God.” Lovino grumbled, immediately dropping the mop and rushing over to the exit.

“Where are you going, _amigo_?” Antonio asked, sitting down on the check-out counter. “I made lunch for the both of us; come, sit!” Lovino looked over his shoulder to see the man grinning and patting the space next to him. The Italian’s stern expression softened as he stared at the bagged lunch.

“Did you seriously make me a lunch?” Lovino asked, stunned. Antonio nodded, opening his bag.

“It’s just a sandwich inside and it’s pretty generic since I wasn’t sure what you would like.” he answered. “I thought it’d be nice to eat lunch together, eh? We can get to know each other.” Temptation filled Lovino’s mind, though he felt extremely guilty.

“I can’t.” he replied. “I’ll just go and buy my own lunch.”

“No, no, Lovi!” Antonio shouted. “Go on, take it! It’s just a sandwich! Besides, you can take anything from the produce if you like. But please,” Lovino snatched the bag and sat down.

“Alright, alright, I’ll eat your sandwich.” he snapped. “Don’t call me Lovi.” They ate in silence, occasionally hearing sirens cruise by or a child whining to his mother to buy him candy at the sweet shop. Lovino chewed through his bland sandwich and wiped the crumbs off of his shirt. He was about to walk away when Antonio held a bag in his face. “Churro?” he asked, smirking. “They’re homemade.” Antonio added. Lovino gave him a glare before slipping of the churros out.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, nibbling. “For the sandwich and this.”

“My pleasure.” Antonio replied. Not wanting to let awkward silence to settle in again, Lovino grabbed another churro from the bag.

“So, is this a family owned shop?” Lovino asked.

“No; I bout this little place with my own money.” Antonio explained. “I thought it would be neat to own a little market, selling quality goods at cheap prices. Even though I may not get much profit, I like this tiny shop.”

“You live an exciting life then.” Lovino said, sarcastically. “Don’t you have any better ideas than this dumb, little shop? I mean, even a flower shop would’ve been better than this dump.”

“I like appreciating the little things in life, even if they are what you call ‘dumb’.” Lovino snickered, leaping off of the counter. “I mean it; everything in this store has its importance.”

“Even the garbage?”

“ _Especially_ the garbage.” Antonio slid off of the counter and glanced at his watch. Lovino moseyed over to the produce, picking up an apple and taking a bite from it.

“So when do I get to go home?” he asked, tossing the fruit up in the air.

“You’re very impatient, aren’t you?” Antonio chuckled.

“Yeah, what of it?” Lovino replied. The Spaniard smiled and shook his head.

“A few more hours and we’ll close up.” he answered. “For someone who was eager for a job, you sure don’t want to work hard.” Lovino shrugged. He was used to being lazy; if he wasn’t sitting around, he would always manage to break something. Lovino had been quick to learn when he was younger that he wasn’t particularly good at anything compared to his brother. He didn’t have any talents of any kind; he was average throughout school, his cooking skills were alright and he certainly couldn’t paint or do anything artistic. Even when he had chores, Lovino would end up knocking over something and breaking it. He would often leave his chores to Feliciano to worry about and pay him later.

“Hey, hey! No need to get depressed! I was just joking!” Antonio defended, patting Lovino’s back. The Italian smiled slightly, pulling away and walking back over to the mop he left in the aisle. As he began cleaning the floor once again, Antonio hurried over to his office without saying a word.  Lovino didn’t think much of it, and continued to lazily clean the floor.

* * *

 

Like he promised, Antonio began locking up the shop around 5:00. He stood at the door waiting for Lovino to gather his things and leave, holding a bag of food. Lovino shot him a stern glare, pointing to the bag. “You better not be paying me in food.” he snapped. Antonio laughed.

“No, no; your pay with _real_ money is given at the end of the week.” he clarified. “This is just a thank you for all of your hard work today.” Lovino smirked.

“Well, I’m not one to turn down free food.” he said, gladly reaching for the paper bag. “Um, thanks.” Antonio smiled sweetly.

“No problem, _amigo_.” Antonio held out a small tomato, smiling brightly. “Tomato?” Lovino scowled, turning away.

“Keep your damn tomatoes to yourself.” he spat, turning down the alleyway. Antonio shrugged, setting the tomato on the window sill outside of the store.

“See you tomorrow, Lovino! Have a good night!” he called, unlocking his car. The Spaniard climbed into the driver seat and drove off, taking his time driving home.

The past few weeks at home had been complete hell for him. Ever since telling his ex-girlfriend his secret, the atmosphere in the house was quite awkward. Bella refused to talk to him most of the time, would pack her belongings in cardboard boxes and force Antonio to sleep in the spare bedroom every night. Antonio hated how things had quickly become tense between the two of them when they were once close friends.

Pulling up in the driveway, Antonio sighed as he switched off the ignition. He could see Bella’s silhouette through the window as he made his way up to the door. He carefully opened the door as if a bomb were to explode if he opened it too quickly. “I’m home.” he muttered, stepping inside. Bella was sitting on the couch with her arms crossed, staring at the empty candy bowl on the coffee table. Antonio gave her an endearing smile as he closed the door. “How was your day?”

“Fine.” she answered, sternly. “We need to talk.” Antonio swallowed as he shrugged off his jacket and hung it up next to the door.

“Of course; what’s bothering you?” he replied, rubbing his hands as he took a seat next to her.  Bella remained silent, looking away. Antonio laughed nervously. “The new employee I hired is kind of funny. I like him a lot. You’d like him too if you would come back.” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Of course you like him.” Bella muttered. Antonio sighed.

“Bella, don’t do this.” he murmured. “I told you I was sorr—“

“Really? Don’t you see how much of a problem this is, Antonio?” she argued. “We bought this house, we bought that _stupid_ market of yours together. We were even going to get _married_! We were happy, Toni! And you decide that _now_ is the _perfect_ time to tell me you’re gay?!”

“Bella, please.” Antonio pleaded. “We can work this out.”

“I’ve already taken the rest of my stuff to my brother’s house.” she continued. “You can keep this house and the market, but I’m not going to help you pay for the market.”

"You know I won’t be able to afford the market without you! C’mon Bella, we can still be friends and teammates.” Antonio cried.

“Well, guess what, Antonio.” Bella muttered. “That’s not my problem, now is it?” Bella stood up, making her way to the kitchen. Antonio bit his lip, pressing his thumbs together; he knew he should’ve kept his secret in. “I’m leaving tomorrow, officially. Hope that new employee of yours helps you out.”

“Bella, would you just listen to me…” Antonio started, jumping up from his seat.

“Why?” Bella snapped. “So you can stomp on my heart some more? It’s already broken, Antonio. What more do you want?”

“I want to fix it.” he said, simply. “I’m sorry, I truly am.”

“No you’re not.” Bella brought a pot of soup and slammed it on the table. “What’s he like, huh?” she continued, scooping up some soup with the ladle.

“What?”

“The new employee; what’s he like?” Bella clarified.

“Oh come on…” Antonio sighed.

“Muscle toned? Abs? Nice ass?”

“Actually, he almost crushed his foot this morning trying to help me carry in a crate of peaches.” Antonio said, laughing. “He also slipped on the floor when he was mopping. I never said that I liked him in _that_ way.”

“Please, Toni; it was written all over your face. Have you given him tomatoes like you did with me?” She waited for a moment, setting two bowls on the table before chuckling to herself. “You couldn’t even wait until I was gone; you were always a flirt.”

“It’s nothing against you.” Antonio explained.

“Well, it certainly feels like it.” she spat back. “I don’t think you understand how much it hurts me that this has happened. It makes me feel like…like…”

“You didn’t make me gay, Bella.” Antonio muttered, touching her shoulder. He spun her around and smiled sadly. “I’ve been denying it for years.”

“Oh, so you’ve known all along, then?” she hissed. “You’ve known all this time and yet you still got down on one knee and proposed?”

“I thought I could push it away and live the normal life.” he explained, supporting his weight on the table. “I wanted the perfect life with a beautiful wife and wonderful children; that’s what I wanted. Or at least I thought.” Bella slowly sat down in a chair, holding her head in her hands, letting her wavy, blonde hair fall over her face. “I know I should’ve said something sooner.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Bella whispered, faintly. Antonio sighed, sitting next to her and pulled her close. He kissed her forehead and smoothed back her hair.

“I’m sorry I hurt you.” he whispered. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. You’re still my best friend Bel—“

“Save your breath.” Bella mumbled, pushing him away. She left the dining room, marching down the hallway and slammed the bedroom door behind her. Antonio rested his elbows on the table, brushing his hands through his messy hair.

“ _Dios mío_ ,” he whimpered. “Look at the mess I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are probably a lot of mistakes in this chapter, and the writing style is probably slightly different because I wrote the first 3 chapters of this fan fic a few years ago. I should've edited it, but sometimes laziness is a thing. I apologize for any OOC things that might occur in this chapter. 
> 
> Critiques are welcomed and very much appreciated!   
> ~Katelyn


	3. Daily Happenings

The alarm clock wouldn’t shut up.

Lovino rolled over in bed, smacking the snooze button for the eleventh time. He knew he would be late for work, but was tired. Hadn’t grandpa told them that sleeping was more important than anything else when he and Feliciano were kids? Or had he misunderstood and taken the wrong advice to heart?

The door creaked open and his younger brother poked his head in. “ _Fratello_ ,” Feliciano said, softly. “You’re gonna be late for work.” Lovino didn’t respond, only rolling over in his bed. Feliciano took I upon himself to step in and shake his brother’s shoulder. “Lovino?” he whispered. “Loviiinoooo.”

“What?!” Lovino shouted, smacking his brother’s face by accident.

“You’re gonna be late!” Feliciano wailed.

“I heard you the first time!” The infuriated Italian rolled off of the bed, rubbing his eyes.

“You didn’t say anything!” his brother whimpered, patting his throbbing nose. “You’ve only got fifteen minutes to get ready, eat breakfast and get to work.” Lovino opened his dresser, searching for clothes of decency.

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” he asked, yanking a dress shirt off a hanger.

“It’s Wednesday; I don’t have class until later today.” Feliciano answered, walking to the door. “We could walk together to your work place.” Lovino pressed his lips together, thinking. “Since I have class and you have work, it’ll be nice to spend some time togeth—“

“It’s fine, just don’t be such a sap.” Lovino mumbled. After getting dressed, he quickly grabbed an apple and followed his younger brother out of the flat and into the streets.

“The weather is so nice here.” Feliciano chirped, running ahead of his brother. “The sun is so warm and the birds are singing. There’s the pretty flowers and pretty buildings and—“ As Feliciano continued rambling on about utter nonsense, Lovino turned his attention to the shops they were walking past. Just like Antonio’s market, the small stores all seemed to be owned by families. The flower shop, bakery, candies…everything had the small, “folky” feel to them. “…I wonder what kind of candy they have in the candy shop.” Feliciano continued.

“Hey,” Lovino sighed, tapping his brother’s shoulder. “We’re here.” The younger Italian stopped in his tracks, grinning.

“It looks so nice!” he cheered. “And you said your boss gave you the food from last night for free? He must be rich to be able to get fresh produce and goods everyday!” Lovino pulled the door open slightly, looking over his shoulder.

“I guess I’ll see you later.” he said. “Have fun at class.”

“No, no, I’d like to come in and look around!” Feliciano said, pushing pas his brother. “I’m not doing anything for a few hours anyway.”

“It’s just food!” Lovino hollered.

“Lovino?” Antonio peeked out of his office, then flashed them a smile. “You’re here just on time! Who’s this?” Lovino glanced at his brother, who had already wandered off.

“He’s just my little brother.” Lovino answered, begrudgingly.

“You didn’t tell me you had a younger brother.” Antonio added, walking after Feliciano.

“Well, it wasn’t a question on the resume, so I didn’t think it was that important.” Lovino muttered.

“Are you going to introduce us?” Antonio smirked. Lovino rolled his eyes, stomping over to his brother and pulled him towards Antonio.

“Feliciano, this is my boss, Antonio. Antonio, this is my little brother, Feliciano.” he grumbled. He walked away, beginning to push a crate of strawberries to the fruit section.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Antonio. Lovino has told me a few things about you.” Feliciano greeted. “I heard you _really_ like tomatoes?”

“Feliciano!” Lovino shouted. That boy didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. He heard Antonio let out a playful laugh.

“I guess I do like tomatoes. They’re good for a lot of things.” he said. “Lovi never mentioned you; I assumed he lived alone.”

“Nope, he has me to keep him company. Although, we don’t speak to each other much.” The younger Italian mumbled. “I’m going to the art school here; Lovino’s taking care of me.”

“Ah, I see. So you’re a first year?”

“ _Sì_!”

Lovino plodded over to where the two were talking and pushed Feliciano to the door. “Go to class and paint blobs or something!” he scolded. “Can’t you see we’re both busy?”

“No one’s here…” Feliciano began.

“There will be soon! Go! Shoo!” Lovino said, sternly. “Have a good day!”

“U-uh, bye Lovino!” Feliciano stammered. “Have a good day at work!” The door slammed shut and Lovino sighed with relief. He hated when his brother was the centre of attention.

“So, are you into art as well, Lovi?” Antonio asked, breaking the silence. Lovino shot him a glare, scowling.

“Do I look like some schmuck who’s into that artsy-fartsy shit?” Lovino snapped. “And don’t call me Lovi!” Antonio’s smile didn’t disappear as he shrugged.

“I just thought it might be a family trait.” he said.

“Well, everyone in my family has talent except me.” Lovino mumbled. “I’m a worthless piece of shit.”

“Don’t say that!” Antonio cried, following him to the storage room.

“Why the hell shouldn’t I? I’ve never done anything important or fantastic.” Lovino added, shrugging his shoulders.

“That’s still no reason to call yourself a worthless piece of shit.” Antonio assured. “Everyone and everything has a niche on this earth.”

“If I had one Euro coin for every time I heard someone say that to me, I’d put them all in a sack and hit them with it.” Lovino hissed. “If I was so important, I’d know it by now. I’d be somewhere else, not this dingy little shit-shack.” Angered, Lovino began carrying crates around the store to their general locations. Antonio watched him with a frown which made the Italian more furious and flustered. “Stop staring at me! What’s your problem, eh?” he shouted, sliding jars of jam on the shelves.

“You take care of your little brother.” Antonio finally said.

“So?” Lovino asked, giving a stern glare.

“It’s a pretty big deal. You have to give him a place to stay, cook him food, make sure he does his school work…it’s a huge responsibility to take care of someone else, Lovino.” Antonio continued. “Just like it’s a huge responsibility to own a produce market.” Lovino narrowed his eyes. _The fuck is he on about?_ He thought. “I’d say you’re pretty important to Feliciano.”

“That’s nothing.” Lovino argued, looking away. There was a soft beeping sound as they heard someone walk in with heavy footsteps. “Shouldn’t you go and say hi to that customer?” He heard the Spaniard sigh.

“I suppose I should.” Antonio answered, shooting Lovino a grin. He turned away and practically skipped around the store to greet the mother and her children who had just entered the store. Lovino laughed to himself, shaking his head.

“He’s weird,” he murmured. “I like him.”

* * *

 

Antonio kindly carried the single mother’s bag to her car, admiring her two kids chase each other in the small parking lot. The kids were precious, flashing their missing-a-front-tooth grins as their mother scolded them and encouraged them to get into the car. “Thank you so much, sir.” The woman said. “Is your shop new?”

“It is; it’s been almost two months since I’ve bought it.” Antonio answered, handing her the bag.

“I think I’ll come here more often.” she cheered. “It’s quite cheap for fantastic quality.” The woman sat down in her car, making sure not to bump her head. “Thanks again!” And with that, she slammed the door shut and drove away. Antonio waved as he stepped back inside to find his only employee dropping a box filled with corn. A few stalks tumbled out and Lovino glanced over his shoulder.

“What’re you looking at?” he barked.

“Need any help?” Antonio asked, gently taking the crate away from him. Lovino huffed and stomped away. Antonio let out a sigh, picking up the corn off the floor. He didn’t _want_ to fall head over heels for the guy, but there was just something that intrigued him. The cold personality? The brashness? Lovino had something that instantly put a smile onto Antonio’s face and he could quite figure it out. “Don’t force yourself on him,” he muttered to himself. “You’re just making things worse.”

“Are you talking to me” Antonio spun around, staring face to face with the Italian. “Are you?”

“No, no, I was talking to myself.” Antonio clarified. “Did you put the corn next to the…”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lovino blurted, waving his hand around. “What else do you want me to do before I get tired?” Antonio paused and thought for a moment.

“You could always sweep the floors again.” he answered. He chuckled as Lovino immediately groaned and complained. “Well, I’ve got a nice banner to hang up; would you like to do that? Or the both of us could do some paper work?”

“I’ll hang up the stupid banner.” Lovino mumbled. “Where d’you want it?” The poniard pointed up at the ceiling at two different points.

“See those hooks? That’s where the supports for the banner go. Make sure the banner doesn’t droop down; don’t want customers to get hit with it.” Antonio said, walking away. He grabbed the roll of fabric that sat in the corner of his office. He tossed it to Lovino, laughing as he dropped it and turned back to his office. “Let me know if you need any help, okay?”

“Whatever.” Lovino answered, opening the utility closet to find a small, step ladder. “Go make-out with your tomatoes.” Smiling, Antonio closed the door behind him, the door squeaking a bit and sunk into his chair.

“He’s an interesting one, alright.” he muttered, rubbing his chin. “That Lovino.”

* * *

 

With another long and boring day gone by, Lovino began to put the cleaning supplies away when a customer briskly walked in. “Hello and welcome to Carriedo’s Markets.” he greeted, robotically. “How may I help you?” He paused when he turned around to see a beautiful woman with wavy, short, blonde hair standing near the cash register. His harsh scowl disappeared and a smile lit up his face. “ _Buonasera_ ,” he added. The woman gave him an amused grin.

“Is Antonio here?” she asked, simply.

“Somewhere, but I’ll be glad to answer any of your questions, miss.” Lovino replied.

“How sweet of you.” she replied, fiddling with her purse. “But I really need to speak with him.” Lovino frowned a bit.

“He’s been bust with paper work all day, miss. I don’t know what’s wrong.” he explained. “Do you need something?” The woman sighed, brushing her hair back behind her ear.

“Could be a dear and tell him that I said ‘everything is out of the house’.” she suggested. Lovino crinkled his nose in confusion. “Look, he’ll know exactly what I mean.” She turned away and made her way to the door. “Have a good night.” she added before leaving.

“You too.” Lovino muttered, glancing over at Antonio’s office. Was something going on between that Tomato Idiot and that woman? Were they dating? Lovino gently knocked on the door, shoving his hands in his pockets. The door slowly opened and Antonio stepped out, holding out another bag filled with groceries. On top, of course, was a tomato, staring at the Italian.

“Here you go, Lovino.” Antonio said. “Sorry I wasn’t helping out much; I had some business to attend to.”

“A woman came in asking me to tell you that everything is out of the house.” Lovino stated, carefully taking the overfilled paper bag. Antonio stood in silence, staring at the floor. “I-I didn’t catch her name.” he added, scuffing his shoe on the tiled floor. “Um, is everything alright? With your personal life, I mean.”

“It’s nothing of your concern, Lovi.” Antonio replied, turning away.

“It’s _Lovino._ And I’m your employee, I have a right to know if something’s wrong and it might affect my pay.” he spat. “I know I’m not the warmest person to talk to b-but,” He bit his bottom lip, blushing. “If you want someone to talk to, I’m here to listen.” Antonio smiled kindly, lowering his head.

“ _Gracias_ ,” he muttered. “It means a lot, Lovino.” He glanced at the tomato on top of the bag. “Make sure that doesn’t fall.” Lovino nodded, watching Antonio go back into his office. As the door closed, he set the tomato on the check-out counter, shaking his head. He sighed and left the market without saying another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for procrastinating so much with this one. I've had the chapter done for the longest time, it's probably a year or two old because this fan fiction was originally supposed to be a gift for someone but I never completed it because I'm a terrible friend. But I kept putting off updating this work and Beautiful World for so long, I didn't think anyone cared about this one as much; I've honestly been so focused on trying to put Love Comes with Blood to rest because that story is utterly ridiculous (if any of you read that one as well, I have no idea). Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, I promise that things will be more interesting for this one after it. Comments are welcomed and appreciated; this chapter is old so the writing is probably bleh. 
> 
> -Katelyn


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